Chapter 32: Volume 1, Chapter 32: I Advise You to Tell the Truth

"What are you doing?" Ming Yuhua grew anxious; Liu Yuniang was clearly acting out of a guilty conscience, and they should seize this opportunity to press her further.

"A cornered dog will jump over a wall."

Though Ming Yuhua was furious, she still couldn't help being amused by those words; she laughed a couple of times, then her eyes reddened again and tears fell drop by drop, and she said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken of you that way before. Only when it fell on my own head did I know how painful it is."

Rong Luoge knew Ming Yuhua was referring to how she had once mocked the original host; though the original host was already gone, hearing this sincere apology still made her feel a few degrees more open-hearted.

"I accept your apology; let the past be the past," Rong Luoge said.

Ming Yuhua felt that crying like this was very embarrassing, so she took out a handkerchief and pressed it over her face to wipe her tears.

The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed, and from time to time one could still hear a few ambiguous comments from the neighbors.

Encountering this kind of thing, Liu Yuniang was certainly disgraced, but was Ming Yuhua not disgraced as well?

Just the same.

It was likely that this matter could no longer be kept hidden, and would soon spread everywhere.

Ming Yuhua wiped her face clean, then looked at Rong Luoge and said, "I want to go home and tell my mother about this matter; I don't know what to do on my own."

Rong Luoge nodded. "Lady Ming should indeed know about this matter, but have you ever considered whether Consort Ming in the palace knows about Yuliu being with the Great General?"

"My aunt probably doesn't know, right?" Ming Yuhua said subconsciously.

"Yuliu left the palace seven years ago; by that reckoning, her age when she left the palace seven years ago was well below the age at which palace attendants are released," Rong Luoge gently guided her from the side.

Ming Yuhua froze upon hearing this. "Rong Luoge, what are you trying to say?"

"It's not good to speak of these things in the street; shall we find a place to sit down?" Rong Luoge had been trying to deal with Consort Ming but had never found a point of breakthrough; she hadn't expected Consort Ming to deliver a knife right into her own hands.

Ming Yuhua hesitated for a moment; she knew she should go home first, but... but from her time spent with Rong Luoge recently, she knew she was a clever person, and saying these things must have a reason. Gritting her teeth, she said, "All right."

Rong Luoge did not reveal her own residence in this area, but instead took her to a teahouse she had noticed when she came to view a house last time, chose a private room on the second floor, and the two of them went in and sat down.

Rong Luoge ordered a pot of tea and a few snacks, and only after the waiter left did she look at Ming Yuhua and continue, "You must be thinking of entering the palace to verify with Consort Ming right now, aren't you?"

Ming Yuhua nodded. "Isn't that the right thing to do? If Liu Yuniang really is Yuliu, asking my aunt would be the fastest way to get an answer."

"Then have you ever considered—what if Yuliu is Consort Ming's person?"

"What?" Ming Yuhua's face went pale. "Impossible; my aunt has always been very good to us, she couldn't do such a thing," Ming Yuhua said subconsciously, but her hands tightly gripped the hem of her clothes, still trembling slightly.

Looking at Ming Yuhua's state, Rong Luoge felt a rare flicker of reluctance; she picked up her teacup and took a sip of tea. "Actually, there is something I've never been able to figure out."

"What thing?" Though her heart was aching, Ming Yuhua still looked at Rong Luoge with some anticipation upon hearing her words, always feeling that she could produce some astonishing statement at any moment.

"I was thinking about the matter between you and Prince Qi."

"My cousin? What does this have to do with my cousin?"

"Consort Ming knows full well that you fancy Prince Qi; although they say the marriage alliance with the Zhen Guo Gong Fu is to consolidate Prince Qi's power, if you think carefully, an alliance isn't strictly necessary. Moreover, I grew up at the estate, and my position in the Zhen Guo Gong Fu is very awkward; I have little affection for the Zhen Guo Gong Fu, so how much could I contribute to an alliance between the two families by marrying over?"

Ming Yuhua didn't pay much attention at first, but as she listened to Rong Luoge's words, her expression gradually grew solemn, and her face became increasingly ugly.

Rong Luoge looked at Ming Yuhua and added another line, "It didn't seem strange before, but the Protector Duke has an outside woman, and now the Great General also has an outside woman—do you think there could be some connection between them?"

Ming Yuhua looked at Rong Luoge in surprise. "You really dare to think; this... what connection could there be?"

"I don't know yet either, but I keep feeling there's a connection between them, otherwise how could it be such a coincidence?" Rong Luoge truly didn't know what the connection was right now, but she always had a feeling that there definitely was one.

Thinking of this, she looked at Ming Yuhua and said, "I suggest you look into the origins of Liu Yuniang and Di Yue Nu."

Ming Yuhua felt as if she were listening to something outlandish, and said in a daze, "I think you might be overthinking this; how could they be connected? Di Yue Nu has been with the Protector Duke for so many years—look, Rong Lang is much older than Liu Yuniang's son."

Judging by age, a connection was impossible too.

"For families like ours, a large age gap between siblings is quite common, isn't it? Besides, Rong Lang is only about ten years older than Liu Yuniang's son, which isn't that big a gap."

Ming Yuhua still couldn't bring herself to believe it, and was in an indescribable state of agitation. "I need to go back and discuss this with my mother."

"With something like this happening, you should indeed tell Lady Ming. I suggest you explain the relationship between Liu Yuniang and Consort Ming clearly; don't hide things."

Ming Yuhua:...

How did Rong Luoge guess that she wanted to keep it hidden?

She just felt that since the matter hadn't been investigated clearly yet, she shouldn't tell her mother first, lest her mother suffer.

Seeing Ming Yuhua's expression, Rong Luoge smiled faintly. "You're someone whose thoughts are shallow; every little thing shows on your face, very easy to guess. But Lady Ming has always been steady and prudent in her actions; if you tell her half and hide half, that's what would easily lead Lady Ming to make a mistake."

Ming Yuhua walked out of the teahouse in a daze, her mind full of Rong Luoge's words; she truly hadn't expected that the father who doted on them in everyday life would actually be raising a child outside, a bastard son already so grown.

She could barely bear it; presumably her mother would feel even worse upon finding out.

But what Rong Luoge said also made sense; if she didn't make things clear now, what if... what if Liu Yuniang really was her aunt's person... she didn't know what to do, but she knew that if her mother learned the truth too late, it definitely wouldn't be a good thing.

After Ming Yuhua left, Rong Luoge settled the bill and returned to her own residence.

Walking to the front of the residence, she suddenly recalled the matter of seeing Han Xinglan next door previously; her footsteps paused, and she turned to knock on the neighbor's door.

The person who came to open the door was a stranger, but upon seeing her he didn't seem surprised; he bowed and then said, "Young Master Rong, please come in."

Rong Luoge's mouth twitched, but she still stepped inside.

After the door-opener shut the door, he led the way ahead; they passed through the screen wall, walked along the covered corridor, and passed through the inner gate, until she finally saw the Crown Prince in the Hou Hua Yuan.